What is a Blue Pearl?

 

A blue pearl captures your eye and grabs your attention, it's as unique as you. The colours are mesmerising like the sun dancing on the ocean. The blue can be pale or deep and also brilliant blue.

Pearls have a chameleon quality about them, different light makes them appear different colours, depending on how they catch the light. The colours almost appear liquid and seem to have a life of their own. Each blue pearl has it’s own distinct tone and character.

A pearl is the only gemstone grown in a mollusc (oyster, clam) and it’s the nacre that give the blue pearl the colour and hardness. the nacre is secreted by the mollusc that the pearl is growing in and the colour is determined by the colour of the shell. There is another substance called conchiolin and it’s this that acts like a mirror reflecting light through the nacre to give the blue pearl it’s lustrous colour. 

 

It’s the genetic make up of each individual mollusc which gives blue pearls the colour and iridescence. The nacre is influenced by the environment that they live in and their diet.

The mollusc eats seaweed and it’s the combination of the seaweeds that it grazes on that give blue pearls their incredible colours as well as the water flow it grows in and the temperature of the water. The more variation in water temperature the more defined the layering becomes and that makes a more intensely coloured blue pearl.

Wearing a pair of blue pearl earrings makes your eye colour appear more intense, whether it;s a the blue or green of your iris being reflected in the blue pearl or the contrast of brown against the deep blue pearl earrings.

Pearls are softer than other gems and you need to look after them so they don't get scratched, keep them in their pouch when you aren't wearing them. You can wipe them over with a damp cloth. As a rule pearls should be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off as they can be affected by perfumes or hairspray.

Desiderate blue pearls are sourced from the pristine islands of Indonesia and the farms that they are grown in support an entire village. When the pearls are grown to the right size the mollusc is gently opened and the pearl removed. The pearl technicians care for the molluscs and are careful not to hurt them.